Fear
by Aria Fox
Summary: SPD- after the events in confronted Z has trouble sleeping.


A little ficlet takes place after Confronted. Serious thinking should never be done in the early hours of the morning.

**Fear**

On a too soft mattress in a room where colours clashed just as much as its occupants Z Delgado stared up at the ceiling chewing her nails lost in thought.

The occasional scrape of teeth against nail sounded overly loud. Her new roomie was too delicate and girly for anything as crass as snoring or even moving in her sleep.

The complete silence was nerve-racking.

Decisively Z whipped off layers of blankets tugging down white hospital issue pyjama legs and slipped out into the common room. Self-conscious in the only nightwear she had worn in years Z hurried along the corridor stopping at a door that looked just like her own.

Not bothering to knock Z let herself inside but sneaking into Jack's territory was not a good idea.

"It's me."

"It's 3 in the morning Z." Voice heavy with sleep Jack rolled over making room.

"So?" asked Z carelessly. Flopping down on the bed beside him she pulled the covers up to her chin. Breathing deeply something inside unclenched. He was still here.

"What?" Jack demanded when she said nothing..

Playing with the edge of one blanket, which unsurprisingly was red. This place seemed determined to colour code them. Z tried to organise the thoughts and feeling that had been swirling around all night.

"He took your morpher Jack." Those words contained all the fear and disbelief she had been bottling up since the incident.

"I was there." The temperature dropped by several degrees as Jack withdrew from her a miracle in a single bed.

Knowing better than to give into his sulks Z continued as if he had not spoken.

"This is our chance we mess up and he takes it away."

"And we're back to the streets." Hearing it said out loud made what she had desperately been trying to reason away solid.

"I can't go back. No I wont go back." Her voice strong filled with conviction was betrayed by fine muscular tremors. Relenting on his hard stance Jack stroked her back in reassurance.

"We wont.".

"How long Jack? How long before Crunger wakes up and realises he has street scum running around with his precious B-Squad."

"The guy follows some strange dog logic, making a thief leader of a gang of cops? You know any sane people who'd do that?" Z could not help but agree she loved Jack and knew given time he would make a good leader but not now they had no idea what they were doing. "I mean Sky has made sure I know he's top of every class, Bridge could make friends with a lamppost and Syd's good at everything she's ever tried. You've seen all her trophies. Why me? " Voice rising with frustration Jack punched the overly thick mattress. It was so rare for Jack to be uncertain that her own fears were temporarily over ruled rolling over Z hugged him tightly.

"You can be a good leader Jack you just got a little trippy."

Jack barked in laughter.

"That's not what you said earlier."

"Come on you spent all day playing boss of the universe!"

"I'll make up for it Z."

"You did make a good start being our cabana boy."

"What the hell is fresca any way?" Laughing Z shrugged all dinnertime they had sent Jack off in search of weirder and weirder food items. Syd's demand for fresca had left Jack completely clueless.

Hoping being here was enough to quieten 3a.m. doubts Z closed her eyes listening to Jack familiar breathing but it was no use these were not normal middle of the night terrors. If Crunger knew how much of a front they were putting up here it would be both their morphers.

Z kicked Jack as hard as she could through all the covers repeatedly until his muffled swearing proved he was awake. Dodging his attempts to retaliate by curling up into a tight ball Z waited until he was glaring at her.

"Here's what I'm thinking the physical stuff we can do and some how with their guns we're actually hitting targets."

"I think that talent came with the shiny suits."

"Probably, it's the academic stuff we fall down on. If Crunger finds out you never went to school and I never quite made it to high school we're done."

"So what we don't know we bluff." He pointed out reasonably.

"That the problem we don't know anything." Z bit back. Suddenly Jack untangled himself from the bedclothes and disappeared.

Grumbling Z scrambled over to the other side of the bed and peered over looking at Jack crawling under the bed reappearing with a cardboard box.

He threw packets of dried fruit and pop from the box onto the bed and disappeared into the gloom. Returning his arms full of textbooks and a data pad tucked under his chin Jack climbed back onto the bed.

"Lights." Z shielded her eyes from the brightness whimpering.

"Right you take these." Heavy books landed on her lap. "And I'll take SPD history."

"I'm blind you blinded me."

"Toughen up cadet the big blue dog wants us out he's going to have a fight on his hands."

Despite her smarting eyes Z smiled they had a plan. Opening a random textbook taking a sip of Jack's pop.

Once upon a time they had fought to keep damp bedding in a corner of an abandoned warehouse. Warm beds, limitless food, and a chance of being something great would be taken from their cold dead fingers.


End file.
